Ola Apps vs Uber Apps pros and cons

Which is better, Ola or Uber? What are the pros and cons of their apps? Get the most authentic opinions from our technical experts.

Which app is the better one among Ola App vs Uber App in India? Is there any special discount or benefit for the new member's sign up or even for the old members? What are the best options to use these apps? Do they offer Wallet facilities? How secure are they to use? Kindly share your experience of these apps.

Ola and Uber have been the prime choices when it comes to the cab services. However, which of them is better? It depends upon various factors. Look at what you are looking for and decide on the suitability of the service with respect to your requirements.

Ease of UseBoth of those apps offer easy functionality. Both Uber and Ola have the simple design. The landing page on both the apps offers you maps view with your position, and the cabs that are available near your location. Either of the apps offer you WiFi enabled cabs payment methods available.

BookingsBookings are quite easier with both of the apps. You will get an estimate for your trip even before you actually set out on the tour.

PricingUber is cheaper than the Ola cabs. Ola cabs has a pricing of of Rs. 80 for the first 4 kms and Rs.10/km, a flat rate of Rs. 100 for the first 4kms and Rs.8/km, a flat rate of Rs. 100 for the first 4 kms and Rs.11/km in Bangalore, Delhi and Mumbai respectively. The rates for Uber are of Rs.35 and Rs.7/km, a base rate of Rs.40 and Rs.7/km, a base rate of Rs.45 and Rs.8/km in Bangalore, Delhi and Mumbai.

Safety and controversiesThere have been safety violation incidents reported recently. There have been incidents involving the abuse and harassment of women in case of both the services. They do have code of ethics guidelines for proper behaviour. However, since the services work as intermediaries between the cabbies and consumers, there are several issues that have been observed plaguing the sector.

Pros and cons of the servicesOla Cabs Pros

It is an Indian startup and has a good knowledge of Indian conditions

It has better market share in the genre

The service is available in more cities and has a good deal of drivers

Both the Ola and Uber are the two best choices of cab service in India. They both are emerging as proficient cab service providers in almost every prominent city. Coming to the issue of preferences, we need to discuss more about their services. The network plays a major role in the cab services. The comparison between Ola and Uber could be considered by their services, bookings, navigation, and prices.

ServicesThe market value of Uber is higher than the Ola. The investments and share values have been given precedence to Uber than Ola. Regarding cabs, Uber has 2,50,000 cabs and Ola has 3,50,000 cabs in India. Comparing their services, Uber has its services spread in 26 cities where Ola has its services among 102 cities in the country.

NavigationThe users need the right kind of flexibility in the apps for booking the cabs. Both the apps were designed to make them user friendly. The major parts of the apps are based on Geographical Positioning System(GPS) to map the user as well as the cabs. Both these cabs provide good functionality with the support of GPS. These apps provide the location bar in which every user can locate their positions while riding in the cab.

BookingsBoth the Ola and Uber apps provide options to their users to select their cabs with flexibility. The users can select their destinations based on which the bill generates. The Payment modes available in both of these apps are either through third party apps, their own app or by cash. Confirmations on booking are provided in both these providers. When you see Uber, they dispatch the cabs once the booking is confirmed. If in case, the cab gets delayed, the user can cancel their booking and they can book for an alternate cab. In Ola, they too provide the same pre-booking options for the users.

App StructureOla has different cab facilities which are listed as Sedan, Taxi for Sure (TFS), Mini, Prime and even Auto. Uber has different cab facilities which are listed as UberGo, UberX, UberBlack and UberSUV. The Uber app shows you the details of user's payments, history of rides, free rides of new users and old users by promotion codes, promotions, users help, notifications and setting for change. The Ola app also has some more additional features comparing with Uber. Features like Micro sharing, sharing and group sharing options available in this app.

PricesUber is cheaper than the Ola. Ola cabs provides basic fares at Rs. 80 for the first 4km and Rs.10 per km. Rates may vary according to the cities they have provided. Here is just the example of fare procedure. Uber cab provides basic fares at Rs.35 and Rs.7 per km. Here too, rates may vary according to the cities one choose. Uber charges even for cancellation once the cab reaches the user. Those rates too depends on the cities.

Benefits for New UsersOla cab provides first ride free for the new user. The new user can go anywhere in the city for free of charge in his or her first ride. Uber cabs provides promotional codes for users, they can utilize it for their convenience. For example, first riders can have promo code of discounts of Rs. 75, first three rides have promo code of discounts of Rs. 150 and so on.

Payment optionsBoth these apps provide third party apps for payments. Most common third party app is Paytm. Using with Paytm app, the wallet present in it, can makes user to link their account with the Ola or Uber app. After linking those apps, users can pay for their rides through these wallets. Even if there is no cash in the wallet, users can pay cash for their rides.

Safety measuresUber provides cab details like cab number, cab driver name and mobile number while booking the cab. Once the cab booked by the user, he or she will receive these details in the app itself. Same way Ola service provider too share the same details through their app. So users can have every details of the cab and they can share it to their friends and families emergencies.

Pros and ConsUber cabs Pros1. They are US based international service provider.2. They provide latest technology in their apps.3. Good in field analytics.

Uber cabs Cons1. They run their cabs only in 26 cities in India.2. There is no waiting service in these cabs.

Ola cabs Pros1. They are Indian based service company.2. The app is quite user friendly.3. Their cabs run in 102 cities of India.

Ola cabs Cons1. They need to work more on their network.2. There is a lack of communication with the drivers.3. There are payment issues in this cab service.

Booking the cab is possible through their own app as well as various other apps. On other apps you usually find them under offers section. For example, using paytm gives you some discount per ride. Booking is also possible through online interface.

Cab Sharing

Both the services offer the cab sharing feature. However due to recent government limitation, cab sharing and car pooling is likely to be controlled. So they are undergoing protest for the same along with other taxi drivers etc. Car pooling is one of the common feature offered by Olacabs at first. Later adopted by the Uber as well.

Cab Charges

You may find that cab charges for the services are competitive. Some of the time the long distance cab rides are discounted. And this means the short distance cab rides are not good for the customer. Also both the services offer the same price for the short distance.

Wallet

Both the apps have external wallet system for storing the refunds. In case of Ola it makes use of the paytm for refunds and the wallet feature. Uber too has switched from in house wallet to paytm due to RBI compliance requirement. PayTM wallet offers discount on monthly basis so storing the money in Paytm wallet is beneficial for the user.

Discounts

App of both services offer discount to new users under specific condition. Also the apps run the discount time to time on special portals and coupon offering sites. However a lot of those discounts require some specific bill value for them to be applied in some cases.

Secure

Cab can be secure depending on the place from which they are booked. Most of the issues with women safety are in specific region. And the security issue goes both ways. For example, sometimes cab owners are falsely accused and some of the time women are under safety issue. So it's difficult for the government to enforce safety for women.

Ola vs Uber

Olacabs came out earlier than Uber and as an Indian company, it managed to capture more market. However Uber's international coverage and the IT region market, gained them more customers. Also the security aspect is more taken care of from the Uber than any other cab ride service. Payment system on Uber is probably streamlined more effectively. And Olacabs however may have some issues but weekly payments are on time. In such case you can find that Uber is more preferred by people from IT industry. However Olacabs has managed to capture local market and on many places rides are lot cheaper for Olacabs.

In case of handling the security and controversy, both the cab service work hard. Uber failed to manage the IT related security issues less effectively. So I think Olacab for local rides is much better than Uber. But if you are looking for more comfortable rides with better payment system and discounts, I think uber would be much better option.